Method for controlling access to electronic documents using locks

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a telecommunication method for controlling data access to a telecommunication server, the telecommunication server being connected to at least one first client terminal via at least a digital cellular telecommunication network, wherein the telecommunication server and the first client terminal communicate via a stateless protocol within at least a first communication session, the first client terminal being a battery powered device, the telecommunication server comprising an electronic document, the electronic document having a plurality of input fields for entry of electronic data, wherein a first lock and a session ID are assigned to the electronic document, the session ID being indicative of the first communication session, wherein the first lock is released by the telecommunication server upon ending the first communication session, the telecommunication server comprising multiple applications for accessing the electronic document, the telecommunication server further comprising a session control unit, wherein in a first access mode the session control unit is adapted to control access by the multiple applications to the electronic document using the first lock and the session ID, the method comprising receiving by the telecommunication server a first request from a first user of the first client terminal for accessing the electronic document, the first request being indicative of a first user ID of the first user.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to computing systems, and more particularly to a method for controlling data access in a telecommunication server.

BACKGROUND

The Representational state transfer (REST) architectural systems require that all knowledge about prior communication between a client and a server is kept on the server and the client, or contained within the messages they exchange. Traditional data entry and data modification applications work on a temporary in-memory version of an electronic document which is persisted on the server once it is sufficiently complete and consistent. However, the life time of this temporary version is tied to a communication session between the client and the server which also controls pessimistic locks and reservations.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments provide a method for controlling data access in a telecommunication server, a telecommunication system, a telecommunication server, a mobile telecommunication device and a computer program product as described by the subject matter of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are described in the dependent claims.

In a first aspect, the invention relates to a telecommunication method for controlling data access to a telecommunication server, the telecommunication server being connected to at least one first client terminal via at least a digital cellular telecommunication network (the telecommunication network), wherein the telecommunication server and the first client terminal communicate via a stateless protocol within at least a first communication session, the first client terminal being a battery powered device, the telecommunication server comprising an electronic document, the electronic document having a plurality of input fields for entry of electronic data, wherein a first lock and a session ID are assigned to the electronic document, the session ID being indicative of the first communication session, wherein the first lock is released by the telecommunication server upon ending the first communication session, the telecommunication server comprising multiple applications for accessing the electronic document, the telecommunication server further comprising a session control unit, wherein in a first access mode the session control unit is adapted to control access by the multiple applications to the electronic document using the first lock and the session ID. The method comprises:

-   -   a) receiving by the telecommunication server a first request         from a first user of the first client terminal for accessing the         electronic document, the first request being indicative of a         first user ID of the first user;     -   b) in response to receiving the first request creating and         assigning by the telecommunication server a set of locks to the         electronic document, wherein the set of locks comprises at least         a second lock that is released by the telecommunication server         upon deleting the electronic document;     -   c) saving by the telecommunication server the second lock in         association with at least the first user ID for enabling the         first user to access the electronic document using the first         user ID;     -   d) configuring the session control unit to switch from the first         access mode to a second access mode, wherein in the second         access mode the session control unit is configured to access the         electronic document using the second lock and the first user ID         instead of the first lock;     -   e) generating by the telecommunication server an identification         address of the electronic document in accordance with a         communication protocol of the telecommunication network;     -   f) sending the identification address to the first client         terminal by the telecommunication server;     -   g) displaying by the first client terminal the electronic         document;     -   h) entering first user data in at least part of the input fields         of the displayed electronic document;     -   i) sending at least part of the first user data by the first         client terminal during the first communication session, using         the first user ID and the identification address as a         communication address;     -   j) receiving by the telecommunication server the at least part         of the first user data from the first client terminal;     -   k) controlling the session control unit to save the at least         part of the first user data in the electronic document using the         first user ID and the second lock;     -   l) controlling the session control unit to switch back to the         first access mode and to commit the at least part of the first         user data using the first access mode, wherein the commit         comprises releasing the first lock.

In another aspect, the invention relates to a telecommunication system comprising a telecommunication server and a client terminal, the telecommunication server being connected to the client terminal via at least a first digital cellular telecommunication network, wherein the telecommunication server and the client terminal communicate via a stateless protocol within at least a first communication session, the client terminal being a battery powered device, the telecommunication server comprising an electronic document, the electronic document having a plurality of input fields for entry of electronic data, wherein a first lock and a session ID are assigned to the electronic document, the session ID being indicative of the first communication session, wherein the first lock is released by the telecommunication server upon ending the first communication session, the telecommunication server comprising multiple applications for accessing the electronic document, the telecommunication server further comprising a session control unit, wherein in a first access mode the session control unit is adapted to control access by the multiple applications to the electronic document using the first lock and the session ID, wherein the telecommunication system is operable to execute the method as disclosed in one of the preceding embodiments.

In another aspect, the invention relates to a computer program product comprising computer executable instructions to perform the method steps of the method of any one of the preceding embodiments.

In another aspect, the invention relates to a mobile telecommunication device in communication with a telecommunication server via at least a digital cellular telecommunication network, wherein the mobile telecommunication device is in communication with the telecommunication server via a stateless protocol, the mobile telecommunication device being a battery powered device. The mobile telecommunication device is configured for:

-   -   sending to the telecommunication server a first request for         accessing an electronic document of the telecommunication         server, the first request being indicative of a first user ID of         a first user of the mobile telecommunication device;     -   receiving from the telecommunication server an identification         address of the electronic document and the electronic document         and displaying the electronic document;     -   receiving user data entered in input fields of the displayed         electronic document;     -   sending the user data to the telecommunication server.

In another aspect, the invention relates to a telecommunication server in communication with at least one first client terminal, the telecommunication server being connected to the first client terminal via at least a digital cellular telecommunication network, wherein the telecommunication server and the first client terminal communicate via a stateless protocol within at least a first communication session, the telecommunication server comprising an electronic document, the electronic document having a plurality of input fields for entry of electronic data, wherein a first lock and a session ID are assigned to the electronic document, the session ID being indicative of the first communication session, wherein the first lock is released by the telecommunication server upon ending the first communication session, the telecommunication server comprising multiple applications for accessing the electronic document, the telecommunication server further comprising a session control unit, wherein in a first access mode the session control unit is adapted to control access by the multiple applications to the electronic document using the first lock and the session ID. The telecommunication server is configured for:

-   -   receiving a first request from a first user of the first client         terminal for accessing the electronic document, the first         request being indicative of a first user ID of the first user;     -   in response to receiving the first request creating and         assigning a set of locks to the electronic document, wherein the         set of locks comprises at least a second lock that is released         by the telecommunication server upon deleting the electronic         document;     -   saving the second lock in association with at least the first         user ID for enabling the first user to access the electronic         document using the first user ID;     -   configuring the session control unit to switch from the first         access mode to a second access mode, wherein in the second         access mode the session control unit is configured to access the         electronic document using the second lock and the first user ID         instead of the first lock;     -   generating an identification address of the electronic document         in accordance with a communication protocol of the         telecommunication network;     -   sending the identification address to the first client terminal;     -   receiving first user data from the first client terminal;     -   controlling the session control unit to save the first user data         in the electronic document using the first user ID and the         second lock;     -   controlling the session control unit to switch back to the first         access mode and to commit the first user data using the first         access mode, wherein the commit comprises releasing the first         lock.

In another aspect, the invention relates to a telecommunication method for controlling data access to a telecommunication server, the telecommunication server being connected to at least one client terminal via at least a first digital cellular telecommunication network (the first telecommunication network), wherein the telecommunication server and the client terminal communicate via a stateless protocol, the client terminal being a battery powered device. The method comprises:

-   -   a) providing an electronic document a content of which comprises         a plurality of input fields for entry of a set of user data;     -   b) storing by the telecommunication server a status parameter in         association with the electronic document, the status parameter         having a first, second or third value, the first value         indicating a first state of the electronic document in which the         electronic document is not filled, the second value indicating a         second state of the electronic document in which the electronic         document is filled with the set of user data, the third value         indicating a third state of the electronic document in which the         electronic document is being requested for modifying at least         part of the set of user data;     -   c) receiving by the telecommunication server a request from the         client terminal to access the electronic document;     -   d) if the received request is a first request to access the         electronic document setting by the telecommunication server the         status parameter to the first value;     -   e) in response to a determination that the status parameter has         the first value:         -   creating by the telecommunication server an initial draft             document comprising content of the electronic document if             the initial draft document is not created and assigning a             first identification address to the initial draft document             for accessing the initial draft document if the first             identification address is not assigned to the initial draft             document;         -   displaying by the client terminal the initial draft document             on the client terminal;         -   receiving (in response to the displaying) by the             telecommunication server from the client terminal user data,             and saving the received user data in the initial draft             document;         -   in response to determining by the telecommunication server             that the set of user data is completely received, setting by             the telecommunication server the status parameter to the             second value, copying by the telecommunication server the             initial draft document into the electronic document,             assigning by the telecommunication server a second             identification address to the electronic document for access             via the first telecommunication network to the electronic             document, and deleting the initial draft document;     -   f) in response to a determination that the status parameter has         the second value or the third value:         -   creating by the telecommunication server an edit draft copy             of the electronic document if the edit draft copy is not             created and assigning a third identification address to the             edit draft copy for accessing the edit draft copy if the             third identification address is not assigned to the edit             draft copy, setting the status parameter to the third value             if the status parameter has the second value;         -   displaying by the client terminal the edit draft copy on the             client terminal;         -   receiving (in response to the displaying) by the             telecommunication server modifications to the set of user             data from the client terminal, modifying by the             telecommunication server the edit draft document using the             received modifications;         -   in response to receiving a save or an activate modification             request from the client terminal, setting by the             telecommunication server the status parameter to the second             value, copying by the telecommunication server the edit             draft copy into the electronic document and deleting by the             telecommunication server the edit draft copy;     -   g) repeating steps c)-f) in one or more consecutive         communication sessions between the client terminal and the         telecommunication server using at least one of the first, second         and third identification addresses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate the various embodiments and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the embodiments and to enable one skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a representative view of a telecommunication system.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary structure of a client terminal.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary architecture of telecommunication server.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for controlling data access to the telecommunication server.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for concurrent access to the electronic document.

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram of basic operations for accessing an electronic document.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method for accessing an initial draft document of the electronic document.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method for controlling data access to the telecommunication server.

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary telecommunication system.

FIG. 10 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for creating an initial draft document.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a method for transmitting user data input at the client terminal.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a method for validating the initial draft document or the edit draft copy for consistency.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a method for converting the initial draft document or the edit draft copy into the electronic document.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a method for canceling data previously entered into the initial draft document or the edit draft copy.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of a method for creating an edit draft copy.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following, like numbered elements in the figures either designate similar elements or designate elements that perform an equivalent function. Elements which have been discussed previously will not necessarily be discussed in later figures if the function is equivalent.

The above features may have the advantage of centrally controlling and securing access to electronic documents. This is due to the fact that the locks are assigned at once to the data and not to applications. This may avoid repeating the present method for every application of the multiple applications. This may increase the performance access to the electronic documents and may save resources in the telecommunication system that would otherwise be required for repeating the locking approach for every application of the multiple applications.

The term “telecommunication server” as used herein refers to a computer server that is connected to a digital cellular telecommunication network.

Another advantage may be that the present method may be seamlessly integrated in existing systems. The introduction of durable locks is transparent to the user, since the user has (durable) access to the same functionalities as with existing systems e.g. same document structure, the way a document is displayed etc.

According to one embodiment, the method further comprises: concurrently receiving a second request for accessing the electronic document and the first request, wherein the second request is received by the telecommunication server from a second user of a second client terminal of the at least one client terminal, the second request being indicative of a second user ID of the second user, wherein the set of locks further comprise a third lock in association with the second user ID for enabling the second user to access the form document and the data using the second user ID; displaying by the second client terminal the electronic document; entering second user data in at least part of the input fields of the displayed electronic document; sending at least part of the second user data by the second client terminal during the first communication session, using the second user ID and the identification address as a communication address; concurrently receiving the at least part of the second user data and the at least part of the first user data; concurrently performing steps k) and l) for the at least part of the first and second user data.

This embodiment may be advantageous as it may further increase the performance access to the electronic document by enabling concurrent and secure access to the electronic document using locks. This embodiment may further speed up the access processes to the electronic document compared to a sequential access to the electronic document. Also, the network bandwidth of the telecommunication system may be saved in the telecommunication system as the transmission of data for each of the requester may be avoided. For example, the electronic document to be displayed may be sent at once to all requesters instead of sending it separately for every requester. This may also reduce the data traffic in the telecommunication system.

According to one embodiment, the method further comprises concurrently receiving a second request for accessing the electronic document and the first request, wherein the second request is received by the telecommunication server from a second user of a second client terminal of the at least one client terminal, the second request being indicative of a second user ID of the second user, wherein the set of locks further comprise a third lock in association with the second user ID for enabling the second user to access the form document and the data using the second user ID; displaying by the second client terminal the electronic document; entering second user data in at least part of the input fields of the displayed electronic document; sending at least part of the second user data by the second client terminal during the first communication session, using the second user ID and the identification address as a communication address; concurrently receiving the at least part of the second user data and the at least part of the first user data; performing steps k) and l) for the at least part of the first and second user data in a first and second atomic operation respectively.

The term “atomic operation” refers to an operation which is allowed to start and finish without being interrupted.

This embodiment may further increase the secure aspect of the present method in that it may provide a controlled access at the level of each operation. For example, the method may further comprise in response to determining that the first atomic operation is unsuccessfully completed, preventing execution of the second atomic operation and releasing locks of the set of locks. This may for example stop suspicious access to the electronic document in subsequent atomic operations.

According to one embodiment, the first lock is shared between the multiple applications, wherein the first request is received via a first application of the multiple applications, the method further comprising:

-   -   i. determining if the first lock is pending by determining that         the first lock is used by a second application of the multiple         applications for performing a second access to the electronic         document, wherein the performing of the second access is         pending;     -   ii. if the first lock is pending, suspending execution of the         second application and executing access to the electronic         document by the first application.

According to one embodiment, the method further comprises repeating determining step i. and step ii. in a periodic basis.

These embodiments may further increase the access performance to the electronic document. For example, they may speed up the process to access the electronic document by regularly canceling pending applications.

According to one embodiment, the method further comprises rolling back changes caused by processing steps performed by the second application before the first lock becomes pending.

According to one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving a second request for accessing the electronic document using the session lock; in case the session control unit is in the second access mode rejecting the second request.

According to one embodiment, the receiving by the telecommunication server of the user data comprises: downloading the initial draft document at the client terminal; in response to determining that the client terminal is not connected to a network using a first portion of the first identification address for receiving at least part of the user data at the client terminal; forwarding the at least part of the user data to the telecommunication server via the first telecommunication network using a second portion of the first identification address, wherein the second portion comprises a net-work address generated in accordance with a communication protocol of the first telecommunication network.

This embodiment may be advantageous as it may further increase the performance access to the electronic document, by for example, avoiding multiple attempts to recreate and/or refill the electronic document after each disconnection of the net-work. This may result in saving of resources in the whole telecommunication system including the client terminal as well as the telecommunication server. For example, this may save resources in the client terminal as this may avoid multiple attempts to access the initial draft document and refill the initial draft document in case of a disconnection of the client terminal from the network. Also, the network bandwidth of the telecommunication system may be saved in the telecommunication system as the transmission of the data that may be caused by the refilling process may be avoided (this may also reduce the data traffic in the system).

According to one embodiment, the receiving by the telecommunication server of the user data is performed using the first identification address, wherein the first identification address comprises at least one of an address determined in accordance with a communication protocol of a second telecommunication network to which the client terminal and the telecommunication server are connected; a database entry associated with the initial draft document on the telecommunication server.

This may further increase the performance access to the electronic document in that alternative access methods are provided. For example, an offline direct access to the telecommunication server without need of a network connection may be provided using (e.g. an interactive (direct without network) access session to the telecommunication server and using the database entry associated with the initial draft document in order to fill input data in the initial draft document).

According to one embodiment, the first telecommunication network is a public net-work and wherein the second telecommunication network is a private intranet net-work.

This embodiment may further increase the performance access to the initial draft document as it may provide different technical alternative access methods such that the probability to lose access to the initial draft document is mitigated. This is in contrast to the case where the first and second telecommunication networks are both of the same technical nature e.g. public networks.

According to one embodiment, the receiving of the at least part of the user data at the client terminal is performed in multiple login sessions to the client terminal from a user of the client terminal.

A login session is the period of activity between a user logging in and logging out of the client terminal. This embodiment may further increase the performance access to the initial draft document.

According to one embodiment, the user data and/or the modifications to the set of user data are received concurrently from multiple client terminals. For example, the at least one client terminal may comprise multiple client terminals, wherein each client terminal of the client terminals is assigned a corresponding portion of the initial draft document to be filled by data received from that client terminal. Filling the initial draft document or the edit draft copy concurrently by the multiple client terminals may speed up the process of filling such documents.

According to one embodiment, determining by the telecommunication server that the set of user data is completely received is performed automatically or upon receiving a completion notification from the client terminal.

According to one embodiment, the second identification address comprises an URL for accessing the electronic document using the first telecommunication network. This may provide a seamless integration of the present method in existing systems.

According to one embodiment, the receiving by the telecommunication server of the modifications to the set of user data comprises: downloading the edit draft copy at the client terminal; in response to determining that the client terminal is not connected to a network using a first portion of the third identification address for receiving at least part of the modifications at the client terminal; forwarding the at least part of the modifications to the telecommunication server via the first telecommunication network using a second portion of the third identification address, wherein the second portion comprises a network address generated in accordance with a communication protocol of the first telecommunication network.

According to one embodiment, the method further comprises: determining by the client terminal that the first telecommunication network is an untrusted network and sending by the client terminal the modifications and/or the user data using the third and/or first identification address respectively, wherein the first and third identification addresses comprise addresses determined in accordance with a communication protocol of a second telecommunication network to which the client terminal and the telecommunication server are connected, wherein the second telecommunication network is a private network. The second telecommunication network is a private trusted network. This may further increase the secure aspect of the present invention by switching between networks to have access to the trusted one.

FIG. 1 is a representative view of a telecommunication system 100 in accordance with an example of the present disclosure. The telecommunication system 100 comprises one or more client terminals 101A-N. A client terminal 101A of the one or more client terminals 101A-N may comprise a mobile phone, a PDA (personal digital assistance), a notebook, a computer etc.

The client terminals 101A-N are connected to at least one telecommunication server 105 via one or more networks 103A-C. The networks 103A-C may include similar or dissimilar networks, mixed in any combination. For example, client terminal 101A is connected to the telecommunication server 105 via the network 103A, while the client terminal 101B is connected to the telecommunication server 105 via two networks 103A and 103B. In another example, the client terminal 101A-N may be connected directly e.g. via Ethernet link 103D to the telecommunication server 105.

A client terminal of the one or more client terminals 101A-N may include multiple physical interfaces, including at least one or more physical interface for each different network to which the client terminal is connected. And, the telecommunication server may have one or more physical interfaces for connecting to networks 103A-C.

Networks 103A-C may be different or same types of networks, such as, for example, an Ethernet network, a Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) network, a HomePNA (Home Phoneline Networking Alliance) network, an Ethernet over powerline network (HomePlug), a wireless network, 3G, EDGE, UMTS, LTE, or any other type of network enabling a client terminal 101A of the client terminals 101A-N to connect to the telecommunication server 105.

For example, the one or more client terminals 101A-N may form a front-end of the telecommunication system 100, wherein the front end may function as a portal in which front-end users 107 may access and edit back-end data on the telecommunication server 105.

The telecommunication server 105 and client terminals 101A-N may communicate via a stateless protocol such as the Open Data Protocol (OData) using HTTP or HTTPS. The stateless protocol is a communications protocol that treats each request (e.g. received via a client terminal 101A) as an independent transaction that is unrelated to any previous request so that the communication consists of independent pairs of request and one or more responses of the request (e.g. for one response for one request). A stateless protocol does not require the (stateless) client terminal 101A to retain session information or status about each communications partner for the duration of multiple requests; in particular no session information of the telecommunication server 105.

In one example, the telecommunication system 100 may further include a middleware (not shown) that may function as a gateway and/or interface between the client terminals 101A-N and the telecommunication server 105. The middleware may for example be used for converting data requests from the client terminals 101A-N into requests recognized by the telecommunication server 105. The middleware function may be an intrinsic function of the telecommunication server 105 to convert or interpret the requests from the client terminals.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary structure of a client terminal 101 of the one or more client terminals 101A-N. The client terminal 101 may comprise a mobile telecommunication device. The mobile telecommunication device 101 may comprise a processor 203, a transceiver 205, a memory 207 each capable of communicating with one or more components of the mobile telecommunication device 101. For example, all components are coupled to a bidirectional system bus 209. The mobile telecommunication device 101 may be a battery powered device.

The processor 203 may be a microprocessor, a single core processor, a multicore processor or the like. The processor 203 may control the operation of the mobile telecommunication device 101. The transceiver 205 can be implemented as a transmitting and receiving component of the mobile telecommunication device 101. The mobile telecommunication device 101 may further comprise a display device 225 which displays characters and images and the like. For example, the display device 225 may be a touch sensitive display screen.

Using the transceiver 205, the mobile telecommunication device 101 may exchange data with the telecommunication server 105 via one of the networks 103A-C.

Memory 207 is configured to store at least one application 215 that is executable on the processor 203. For example, the application 215 may comprise a web browser. When the application 215 is executed on the processor 203, the application 215 causes the processor 203 to display on the display device 225 a graphical user interface 227 e.g. a web browser interface. Memory 207 may also temporarily store data entered by user 107 in the mobile telecommunication device 101 in offline mode (when the mobile telecommunication device is not connected to any network 103A-D).

For example, the mobile telecommunication device 101 may be operable to receive a request or input data from a user e.g. 107 via the graphical user interface 227 in order to request data of an electronic document from the telecommunication server 105. In response to the receiving of the request, the mobile telecommunication device 101 may send a request e.g. HTTP request to the telecommunication server 105 for requesting the data of the electronic document. The request may be performed in accordance with at least one API defined in the telecommunication server 105. The request may comprise an (unique) identification address of said electronic document.

The identification address may be defined or generated in accordance with a communication protocol of the network 103A-C that is used by the mobile telecommunication device 101 to send the request to the telecommunication server 105. For example, the identification address may comprise an IP address, media access control (MAC) address, a URL, a database entry, an Ethernet address etc.

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary architecture of telecommunication server 105. The telecommunication server 105 may be a computer system. The components of telecommunication server 301 may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units 303, a storage system 311, a memory system 305, and a bus 307 that couples various system components including memory system 305 to processor 303. Memory system 305 may include computer system readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) and/or cache memory.

Telecommunication server 105 typically includes a variety of computer system readable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessible by telecommunication server 101, and it includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

Telecommunication server 105 may also communicate with one or more external devices such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with telecommunication server 105; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable telecommunication server 105 to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur via I/O interface(s) 319. Still yet, telecommunication server 105 may communicate with one or more networks (103A-C) such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter 309 that may comprise a Wireless and/or mobile network adapter. As depicted, network adapter 309 communicates with the other components of telecommunication server 105 via bus 307.

Memory system 305 is configured to store a plurality of applications 327A-N that are executable on the processor 303. For example, the memory system 305 may comprise an operating system as well as application programs. Memory system 305 (or storage system 311) may further store an electronic document 322. The plurality of applications may be adapted to access or control access or provide access to the electronic document 322.

The term “electronic document” (or initial draft document or edit draft copy) as used herein refers to electronic data for use and/or to be entered in an electronic form that represents the electronic document. The electronic form may or may not be part of the electronic document. The electronic form may comprise, for example, a web form or HTML form that may be displayed a web page for enabling a user to enter at least part of the electronic data that is received by a server e.g. the telecommunication server for processing. The input fields may comprise checkboxes, radio buttons, or text fields that may be fill out by a user. For example, the electronic form when displayed on the client terminal 101A-N may be used to enter data to configure an engine or a machine connected and/or controlled by the telecommunication server.

When initially stored in memory 305, the electronic document 322 may comprise only the electronic form that represents the electronic document 322, as the electronic data may be subsequently received from a user of the electronic document 322 e.g. by entering data in input fields of the electronic form. For example, memory 305 stores the electronic document 322 means that the electronic form that represents the electronic document as well as the electronic data are stored in the memory 305. In another example, the electronic form may be stored in the memory 305 while the electronic data may be stored in a database 320 of the telecommunication server 105. In a further example, the storage of the electronic document 322 comprises storing the electronic data only.

For example, the telecommunication server 105 may comprise a web server. The web server may accept HTTP requests from client terminal 101A-N e.g. to access the electronic document, and provide them with the HTTP responses together with electronic data of the electronic document, which are usually web pages or web forms. For example, the electronic data is transferred separate from the electronic form e.g. web pages by distinct HTTP re-quest/response pairs. In another example, the electronic data and the electronic form are sent together in a response.

The electronic document 322 may be represented by an entity graph that comprises a hierarchical tree structure of multiple entities, with a root entity and subtrees of children, represented as a set of linked entities (or nodes). Each entity of the multiple entities may correspond to one or more input fields of the electronic document. The hierarchical structure may, for example, depend on the time at which a given input field of the electronic document is to be filled. For example, if a first input field has to be filled before a second input field, then the entity of the second input field may be classified as children of the entity of the first input field. In another example, the hierarchical tree structure may be defined and received from a user of the electronic document. The root entity may, for example, define the service that is associated with the electronic document 322 e.g. data control service.

The electronic document 322 may be assigned or used for a given service such as a data control service for controlling the function of a given engine by the telecommunication server, or a telecommunication service for recording user data on the telecommunication server 105. As soon as requested, an instance of the electronic document 322 may be assigned, by an application 327A of the multiple applications 327A-N, to the requester of the electronic document 322.

For example, the electronic document 322 (or the instance of the electronic document) may be accessed by a client terminal 101A-N via a network 103B of the one or more networks e.g. using an identification address as described above with reference to FIG. 2. This network 103B may for example be a public network such as internet.

The telecommunication server 105 may further store e.g. using application 327A a status parameter in association with the electronic document 322. The status parameter may have a first, second or third value. The first value indicates a first state of the electronic document 322 in which the electronic document is not filled (e.g. no data of the electronic document). The second value indicates a second state of the electronic document 322 in which the electronic document 322 is completely filled. The third value indicates a third state of the electronic document 322 in which the electronic document 322 is being requested for modifying at least part of the data filled in the electronic document 322.

For example, the status parameter may be defined as an indicator or variable e.g. called EditState. EditState may have the following values.

Electronic Document is not filled: EditState=0 (first value) which corresponds to an initial draft document (as described below)

Electronic Document is completely filled: EditState=1 (second value) Electronic Document being edited or requested for changing its content: EditState=1 (third value) which corresponds to an edit draft copy (as described below).

The plurality of applications 327A-N may comprise a lock application 327B that administers or manages (adding and/or removing . . . ) locks in a lock table stored in the memory 305. The plurality of applications 327A-N comprises a session application 327C (or session control unit) that controls or manages, for example, data requests or responses (e.g. for the electronic document 322) during a given communication session (e.g. first communication session described below with reference to FIG. 4) between the client terminal 101A-N and the telecommunication server 105. For example, the session application 327C may assign a session lock in association with a session ID to the electronic document 322 in order to access at least part of the electronic document 322 using the session lock during that communication session only. The session ID is indicative of the communication session. That is, as soon as that communication session is ended the session lock is released. The usage of the session lock may restrict access to the electronic document 322 for one or more holders of the session lock. A corresponding lock entry of the session lock is stored (e.g. in association with a holder ID of the session lock) in the lock table by the lock application 327B.

Once the electronic document 322 is locked with a given one or more locks, the electronic document 322 is protected against access by other users/processes or sessions different from the owner or holder of that given lock. A session may be owner of a lock in that the session application 327C uses the session lock for that session in order to access a document e.g. the electronic document 322 to which the session lock is assigned.

In a first access mode, the session application 327C (also referred to as session control unit) is adapted to control access by at least part of the applications 327A-N to the electronic document 322 using the session lock and the session ID.

The term “lock”, as used herein, refers to a data structure that indicates that a particular application or user (owner) has been granted certain rights with respect to a resource e.g. an electronic document (or data entries e.g. IDs from number ranges contained in the electronic document) to which the lock is assigned.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for accessing documents in with durable enqueue locks.

For example, a first user 107 of client terminal 101A may log into the client terminal 101A any may initiate a first communication session between the client terminal 101A and the telecommunication server 105. For that, the first user may have to authenticate only once at the initiation stage (e.g. when sending an initiation request) with the telecommunication server 105 and in all subsequent requests to the telecommunication server 105 during the same first communication session there is no need for authenticating again. The first communication session may for example be ended in response to logout from the client terminal 101A by the first user 107.

A communication session refers to information interchange between the client terminal and the telecommunication server, with the information interchange having a defined start and end. The start may be defined for example by a request for authentication with the telecommunication server. For example, the first request from the client terminal 101A to access the electronic document 322 of step 401 may be used for authentication with the telecommunication server. A series of requests to the telecommunication server 105 originating from the same user e.g. at the same browser may be part of the same communication session. The end may be defined by e.g. closing a browser used to perform the request or a logout from the client terminal 101A or a session timeout.

In step 401, the telecommunication server may receive a first request from the first user of the first client terminal 101A for accessing the electronic document 322 (e.g. after authentication with the telecommunication server 105). The first request is indicative of a first user ID of the first user 107. For example, the first user ID may comprise a login name used by the first user in order to log into the client terminal 101A. In another example, the first user ID may comprise an indication of the first user 107 in combination with an indication of the client terminal 101A (e.g. IP address of the client terminal 101A).

For example, the first user 107A may request a service that is provided by the telecommunication server 105 such as the data control service that is associated with the electronic document 322. The first request may be performed in accordance with a communication protocol that is supported by e.g. network 103B that is used to access the electronic document 322. For example, the first request may be a HTTP request generated via a web browser of the client terminal 101A (e.g. the first user may use a HTTP link for requesting, indirectly, the electronic document 322). The first request may be generated or created at the client terminal 101A using, for example, HTTP methods such as GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE. Such HTTP methods may be used as REST service communications by the OData protocol.

In step 403, and in response to receiving the first request, the telecommunication server 105 may create and assign (e.g. using the application 327A) a set of locks (or enqueue context) to the electronic document 322. For example, as soon as requested, an instance of the electronic document 322 may be created and assigned, by application 327A, to the first user 107 of the electronic document 322 (hereinafter refers to the instance of the electronic document 322). For example, the electronic document 322 may be assigned to the first user 107 taking into account user settings of the first user 107, such as, the language used by the first user 107 such that the electronic form of or that represents the electronic document 322 may contain information in the language of the first user 107. In another example, the electronic form 322 may be adapted to contain more or less input fields dependent on the location of the first user 107. If, for example, the first user 107 is located in Europe, a field concerning the country ID or country name may not be added to the electronic form. In another example, the electronic document 322 may be usable or used by any of the users 107 (e.g. no need of an instantiation of the electronic document 322).

For example, step 403 of creation and assignment of the set of locks may be performed if the received first request is an initial request to access the electronic document 322 for the first time. That is, if the first request is a (subsequent) request that is received from the same user to modify the electronic document 322 (e.g. modify what has been input in an initial access to the electronic document 322 by the same user) the set of locks would have been already created and assigned to the electronic document 322 and no need to repeat it again.

The set of locks comprises at least a second lock that may only be released by the telecommunication server 105 (e.g. using application 327A) upon deleting the electronic document 322. That is, the second lock may be more durable than the session lock (e.g. first lock) which is tied to the first communication session lifetime. However, the session lock is released as soon as the first communication session is ended.

The set of locks may be assigned a context state which may have two values. A first value of the state indicates that the set of locks is used to access the electronic documents (e.g. second operation mode) and a second value of the state indicates that set of locks is not used to access the electronic document (e.g. first operation mode). For example, each user of a set (or list) of users that are allowed to access the electronic document 322 may access the electronic document 322 e.g. during the second operation mode, using the second lock.

In step 405, the telecommunication server 105 may save (e.g. using the lock application 327B) the second lock in association with at least the first user ID (e.g. in the lock table) for enabling the first user to access the electronic document (i.e. the electronic form and the electronic data) using the first user ID (the first user may be the owner of the second lock).

In step 407, the session application 327C may be configured by the telecommunication server 105 to switch from the first access mode to a second access mode. In the second access mode the session application 327C is configured to access the electronic document 322 using the second lock and the first user ID instead of using the session lock as described above.

In step 409, the telecommunication server 105 may generate (e.g. using application 327A) an identification address of the electronic document 322 in accordance with a communication protocol of the network 103B that is used for communication between the client terminal 101A and the telecommunication server 105.

In step 411, the telecommunication server 105 may send the identification address (and/or the electronic document 322) to the first client terminal 101A (as a response to request of step 401). Sending the electronic document 322 comprises sending the electronic form and the electronic data in a same response or in respective responses.

In response to receiving the identification address and/or the electronic document 322, the first client terminal 101A may display in step 413 the electronic document 322 (e.g. displaying the electronic form that contains the electronic data). For example, the electronic form may be received as part of the electronic document and/or may be stored locally in the first client terminal 101A such that only electronic data may be transmitted and received.

In step 415, first user data may be entered (and received by the first client terminal 101A) in at least part of the input fields of the displayed electronic document.

In step 417, the first client terminal 101A may send at least part of the first user data during the first communication session. The submission may indicate or may be performed using the first user ID and the generated identification address as a communication address.

Upon receiving in step 419 by the telecommunication server 105 the at least part of the first user data from the first client terminal, the session application 327C may be configured to save the at least part of the first user data in the electronic document using the first user ID and the second lock. That is, the first user is allowed to store or to modify electronic data of the electronic document 322. The received at least part of the first user data may be stored as at least part of the electronic data. In this step 419, the at least part of the first user data may be prepared to be written on the database (insert, update, delete database statements).

In step 421, the session application 327C may be configured to switch back to the first access mode in order to commit the at least part of the first user data using the first access mode. The commit comprises releasing the session lock. In the first access mode the commit may be performed using the session lock. For example, step 421 may be performed in response to receiving a commit request from the first user 107. In another example, step 421 may be automatically performed once the first communication session is ended. Switching back to the first operation mode in order to perform the commit may preserve a regular behavior and release the session locks upon commit or perform the standard error handling.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for concurrent access to the electronic document 322.

For example, a second user 107 may also be owner of the second lock such that the second user 107 may have access to the electronic document 322. In this case, the second lock is stored in association with the first user ID and the second user ID such that both the first and second users are allowed to access the electronic document.

Owners of a lock of the set of locks may also comprise one or more applications of the multiple applications 327A-N. For example, a same user of a client terminal e.g. 101A may use two different applications of the multiple applications 327A-N for performing different accesses to the electronic document 322. These two different applications may for example be owners of the second lock. And what is described herein for different users (first and second user) being owners of the second locks may hold true for the two different applications.

In step 501 (which may be step 401), the telecommunication server 105 may concurrently receive a second request for accessing the electronic document 322 and the first request. The second request is received by the telecommunication server 105 from the second user of a second client terminal 101B. The second request is indicative of a second user ID of the second user. In another example, the second request may be received while the session control unit is operating in the second access mode (e.g. after switching step 407). For example, the electronic document 322 may be accessed using the second lock and the second user ID in the second access mode.

In step 503, upon receiving the electronic document (e.g. in step 413 the telecommunication server sends the identification address and/or the electronic document 322 to both the first and second client terminals 101A-B) the second client terminal 101B displays the electronic document 322 e.g. in parallel to the displaying of the electronic document in the first client terminal 101A.

In step 505, second user data may be entered in at least part of the input fields of the displayed electronic document and second user data is received at the second client terminal 101B.

In step 506, the second client terminal may send at least part of the second user data (e.g. during the first communication session or another communication session), using the second user ID and the identification address as a communication address.

In step 507, the telecommunication server 105 may concurrently receive the at least part of the second user data and the at least part of the first user data. And may concurrently perform steps 419 and 421 for the at least part of the first and second user data. In another example, steps 419) and 421) may be performed for the at least part of the first and second user data in a first and second atomic operation respectively.

As described above, regular enqueue locks (or locks) shall be decoupled from a given communication session (e.g. ABAP session) lifecycle resulting in Durable Enqueue Locks (or durable locks). In this context Durable shall express the capability to preserve an enqueue lock even after ending the communication session or when committing data as an intermediate step to persist the state of an electronic document e.g. 322. Thus, Durable Enqueue Locks may be kept across multiple OData requests of a client e.g. 101 each processed in its own session.

Regular enqueue locks may become durable if they are associated with a lock owner different from the ABAP session's lock owner—the Enqueue Context (above set of locks) (which may comprise a pair of one dialog and one update lock owner). Once an enqueue context is attached to the communication session processing an OData request, all subsequent lock modules enqueue or dequeue their locks with that context. The locks may be restricted to the update owner (the one used in a commit phase) since the communication session and its dialog owner ends with request processing.

For example, durable enqueue locks may not be retained in fatal error situations, enqueue server (e.g. lock application 327B) crash or restart. In these cases, the electronic document is accessed using the basic, optimistic locking model e.g. based on eTags. The same behavior occurs once a lifecycle service releases all expired durable enqueue locks associated with the lock context of the electronic document. For that, an enqueue context state may be used to enable a processing logic (e.g. application 327A) recovering formerly set locks and reservations in the event durable enqueue locks vanished. Enqueue contexts are reset to initial state after restarting the enqueue server (e.g. lock application 327B) or when dequeuing all associated locks (by intent or due to error situations).

Expiration logic like treated by the ABAP session in a stateful approach may be provided independently. For example, lifecycle services (e.g. of the telecommunication server 105 that may manage services of the telecommunication server 105. The lifecycle service may maintain information associated with an application e.g. 327, synchronizes data between multiple different data sources and applications) may be used with handlers being triggered in short periodic intervals (e.g. once per minute) to avoid pending locks. For using durable enqueue locks, the infrastructure e.g. telecommunication system 100 may provide means to implement and register such handlers as well as to start them by a time-based trigger mechanism.

Basic operations shall be provided as an ABAP façade to kernel functions to enable these enqueue contexts and their durable locks e.g. as described in FIG. 6. The method steps described above describe at least part of these operations.

These operations are listed as follows.

-   -   1—Operation CreateEnqContext 601         -   Upon receiving a request from a caller (e.g. such as the             first user 107 or an application 327A) to access a document             such as the electronic document 322, the operation             CreateEnqContext 601 creates and returns a new enqueue             context ID 607 (e.g. an ID for the set of locks described             above). The caller or requester is providing a source type             603 and a source ID 605 (e.g. electronic document's GUID or             identification address) that is included in the generated             context ID. Thereby, the electronic document may be             associated with the enqueue context 609 and vice versa once             the enqueue context ID is persisted as part of electronic             document's administrative data. The enqueue context ID 607             is subsequently used to switch the enqueue context 609 and             optionally create durable enqueue locks for exclusive             behavior and reservations. After creation of the enqueue             context ID 607 (and the enqueue context 609), the enqueue             context is in active state.     -   2—Operation AttachEnqContext         -   AttachEnqContext (not shown) that follows the             CreateEnqContext operation 601. AttachEnqContext may be an             atomic operation that switches from the ABAP session's             context that may cover a session portion 611A of the             communication session 610 (e.g. used for the first operation             mode) to an enqueue context that may cover a session portion             613 of communication session 610 for durable locks             previously created and for example associated with an             electronic document.         -   When processing an electronic document within an enqueue             context 609 concurrent execution related to the same enqueue             context needs to be synchronized. Concurrency may arise from             multiple independent OData requests or services managing the             lifecycle (expiration) of the electronic document. For             synchronization the AttachEnqContext operation sets an             enqueue lock on the enqueue context ID on session level.             This synchronization needs to behave like an exclusive,             cumulative enqueue lock (mode=‘E’, scope=2) and persists             until the end of a logical unit of work (LUW) that             corresponds to the access request to the electronic             document.         -   The state of the enqueue context is determined (e.g. by             check for a lock of the enqueue context with mode X) before             switching and is returned to the caller. It can be used as             an indicator about an intermediate restart of the enqueue             server in which case all locks of an enqueue context set             before unintentionally vanished.     -   3—Operation DetachEnqContext 615         -   DetachEnqContext 615 is an operation that resets from an             enqueue context e.g. that covers session portion 613 for             durable locks back to the original session lock owners e.g.             back to the first operation mode that uses session related             locks in session portion 611B of the communication session             610.         -   Detaching the enqueue context neither affects the             synchronization lock of a previously set enqueue context ID             607 nor any enqueue locks or reservations meanwhile set by             application that is running or being used to access a locked             document. However, it can be controlled by a boolean KEEP             parameter whether to preserve the durable locks associated             with the enqueue context in a subsequent commit phase, or             not. For example, KEEP=‘True’, all durable locks of the             detached enqueue context are kept. If KEEP=‘False’, all             durable locks of the detached enqueue context are             automatically dequeued.     -   4—operation CommitWithEnqContexts 617         -   CommitWithEnqContexts 617 is an atomic operation that             executes all outstanding update tasks and commits all             pending DB operations. All update tasks that were registered             with either the session lock owners or any of the previously             set enqueue contexts are executed during the commit phase of             the (SAP) LUW.         -   For example, enqueue locks are associated with one or two             lock owners, the dialog owner and update owner.         -   A successful COMMIT WORK (e.g. commit operation) 619 in             local update task releases the update lock owner and any of             the locks set with scope 2 (session lock described above may             have scope=2, 1 and/or 3). Locks with scope 1 or 3 are still             kept until the end of the communication session 610. Due to             this nature locks for the dialog owner may be irrelevant for             durable enqueue locks. As a consequence, lock scopes 1 and 3             may not supported. Calls to enqueue modules with scopes             referring to a dialog lock owner return a SYSTEM_FAILURE             exception.         -   For all locks associated with the session lock owners             (update/dialog) this CommitWithEnqContexts operation has the             behavior described above. As a result a lock synchronizing             on the enqueue context itself may be released.         -   For each of the before attached enqueue contexts the             associated durable enqueue locks are treated as controlled             by the KEEP parameter when calling DetachEnqContext. If they             are kept the enqueue context also stay in active state             otherwise it is reset to initial state.         -   On errors that occur during commit within one of the update             tasks the processing is stopped, all locks dequeued and             enqueue contexts set to initial state. And, a code             500/internal server error and a meaningful message on this             kind of technical error is returned. The electronic document             is still valid, however, now in an optimistic lock mode             based on eTags. The next request may be used to recover             pessimistic locks (enqueue context with durable locks) and             reservations.         -   Technical errors may lead to a 500 Internal Server Error and             a readable text in the standard OData error response.     -   5—operation RollbackWithEnqContexts         -   RollbackWithEnqContexts (not shown) is an atomic operation             that cancels all outstanding update tasks and rolls back all             pending DB operations.         -   The standard behavior of a ROLLBACK WORK releases the update             lock owner and any of its locks set with scope 2, in             particular the locks synchronizing on the enqueue contexts.             Locks with scope 1 or 3 are still kept until the end of the             communication session.         -   All durable locks of any enqueue contexts attached before             are kept independent of the KEEP parameter when calling             DetachEnqContext. The enqueue contexts also stay in active             state.         -   A response code 400 Bad Request shall be returned along with             a readable message text, plus a SAP-Message header             containing details on why a rollback occurred.

The method and embodiments described above for the electronic document 322 may be applied to initial draft document and edit draft copy as obtained from the electronic document 322 as described below.

FIG. 7 shows a diagram describing a method for creating and accessing the initial draft document using durable locks as described above. For example, a draft application 327E of the plurality of applications 327A-N may manage, create and/or control access to the initial draft document.

During stage 701, the telecommunication server 105 may still function in accordance with the first operation mode e.g. where the session lock is used to access the electronic document (and the initial draft document if it is already created).

For example, draft application 327E may receive a request 707 to create the initial draft document out of the electronic document as described below. In the case, where the initial draft document already created, the request 707 may for example be a request to modify or to further complete filling of the initial draft document.

The request may comprise details 709 as described above such as the GUID of the electronic document (or of the initial draft document if it is already created). During the stage 701 the enqueue context may be created and assigned to the initial draft document (if it is not already created). This may be done by performing operation 601 by draft application 327E (that controls the session application 327C accordingly). Upon creating the enqueue context (e.g. set of locks for the initial draft document), the draft application 327E may control the session application in order to perform the AttachEnqContext operation using an index ID of the enqueue context that is created in stage 701 as described above. This operation may switch the stage 701 to stage 703 e.g. second operation mode of the telecommunication server 105. At this stage 703, the initial draft document may be created or modified if created before as described below with reference to FIGS. 8-15 Also, at this stage 703, locks of the enqueue context may be used to access the initial draft document and the electronic document 322 instead of e.g. the session lock. At stage 703, draft application 327E and application 327A may communicate as described below in order to handle the initial draft document. For example, the draft application 327E may be an owner of a lock (second lock) of the electronic document 322 in order to use the electronic document to create the initial draft document. In another example, the draft application 327E may control 713 the application 327A (that is already owner of lock of the electronic document) in order to use the electronic document to create the initial draft document. The steps 711 performed at the stage 703 may be the method as described with reference to the initial draft document below. In this case, it is shown more details about the usage of the locks for performing similar method described below.

Operation 615 may be performed as described above for switching to the stage 705 (first operation mode). This may be done by the draft application 327E that controls the session application 327C to perform the switch. Operation 617 may be further executed during stage 705 using session lock of the initial draft document in order to commit data that have been for example entered for filling input fields of the initial draft document.

FIG. 8 is flowchart of a method for controlling data access to the telecommunication server e.g. 105.

In step 1401, the telecommunication server 105 may receive a request from the client terminal 101A to access the electronic document 322.

For example, a user 107A may request a service that is provided by the telecommunication server 105 such as the data control service that is associated with the electronic document 322. The request may be performed in accordance with a communication protocol that is supported by e.g. network 103B that is used to access the electronic document 322. For example, the request may be a HTTP request generated via a web browser of the client terminal 101A (e.g. the user may use a HTTP link for requesting, indirectly, the electronic document 322). The request may be generated or created at the client terminal 101A using, for example, HTTP methods such as GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE. Such HTTP methods may be used as REST service communications by the OData protocol. In another example, the request may be generated using WebSockets and/or generated in accordance with an intranet protocol such as RFC for OData protocol.

In step 1403, the telecommunication server 105 may determine if the received request is a first request to access the electronic document 322 or not. If the received request is a first request for accessing the electronic document 322 the telecommunication server 105 may set (e.g. using application 327A), in step 1405, the status parameter to the first value.

For example, an instance of the electronic document may optionally be created and tagged as being assigned to the user 107 who requested the electronic document 322 (in the following the electronic document 322 is also referred to as the instance of the electronic document 322). For example, the electronic document 322 may be assigned to the user 107 taking into account user settings of the user 107, such as, the language used by the user 107 such that the electronic form of or that represents the electronic document 322 may contain information in the language of the first user 107. In another example, the electronic form 322 may be adapted to contain more or less input fields dependent on the location of the user 107. If, for example, the user 107 is located in Europe, a field concerning the country ID or name may not be added to the electronic form. In another example, the electronic document 322 may be usable or used by any of the users 107 (e.g. no need of an instantiation of the electronic document 322).

In step 1407, the telecommunication server 105 may determine whether the status parameter has the first value or not. If the status parameter has the first value, steps 1409-1423 may be performed, otherwise steps 1425-1439 may be performed.

The telecommunication server 105 may determine in step 1409 whether an initial draft document that comprises content of the electronic document 322 is previously created or not. In step 1413, the telecommunication server 105 may create the initial draft document having at least the content the electronic document 322 if the initial draft document is not created. The initial draft document may for example be an empty copy of the electronic document 322 i.e. has no data filled in the fields of the electronic document 322 e.g. no electronic data. In another example, the initial draft document may have additional default data that is usually filled in some default fields of electronic documents such as electronic document 322.

In step 1411, the telecommunication server 105 may determine whether an identification address is assigned to the initial draft document or not such that a client terminal 101A-N may access the initial draft document using the identification address. In step 1415, the telecommunication server 105 may assign a first identification address to the initial draft document for accessing the initial draft document if the first identification address is not assigned to the initial draft document (or if the initial draft document is not assigned an identification address e.g. in accordance with the present method). The first identification address may be generated in accordance with a communication protocol of a network 103C that is different from the network 103B that is used to request or access the electronic document 322. In another example, the first identification address may be generated in accordance with a communication protocol of network 103B that is the same as the one used to request the electronic document 322.

In step 1417, at least the client terminal 101A may display the initial draft document (e.g. the client terminal 101A may display the electronic form of the initial draft document and electronic data in fields of the electronic form that have been e.g. previously filled) on the client terminal 101A. For example, the client terminal 101A may receive a response to the request from the telecommunication server 105. The response may comprise the initial draft document and/or an indication of the first identification address (e.g. for a subsequent use). The initial draft document may be displayed on the graphical user interface 227 of the client terminal 101A e.g. with an indication of the first identification address.

For example, other client terminals e.g. 101B and 101C may display the initial draft document such that entries of data may be filled and received at the telecommunication server 105 concurrently from the client terminals 101A-C. For example, the initial draft document may be split into portions corresponding to respective client terminals 101A-C, wherein each portion of the initial draft document may be editable on the corresponding client terminal 101A-C and may be read only on the other non-corresponding client terminals.

The client terminal 101A may receive user data e.g. as entries into input fields of the initial draft document, and may send the user data to the telecommunication server 105. The user data may be received during one or more login sessions to the client terminal 101A. That is, a user of client terminal 101A may login for a first time period, enter a portion of data in the initial draft document and log-out, then login again for a second time period enter another portion of data and so forth. The one or more logins sessions may belong to one or more communication sessions between the client terminal 101A and the telecommunication server 105.

In step 1419, the telecommunication server 105 may receive from the client terminal 101A user data, and may save the received user data in the initial draft document that is stored in the telecommunication server 105. This step 419 may be repeated as soon as user data are received or entered by the user in the initial draft document at the client terminal 101A. For example, the client terminal 101A may be configured to send the user data in a regular time interval e.g. every minute the client terminal may check if new user data are entered may then send them to the telecommunication server 105.

In step 1421, the telecommunication server 105 may determine whether all data required to completely fill the initial draft document is received or not. For example, in order to be complete, it may be required that the initial draft document may comprise a given set of user data e.g. that fills all or part of the input fields of the initial draft document. For example, the telecommunication server 105 may check that the whole set of user data is in the initial draft document (e.g. that all the input fields or the part of input fields are filled). In addition, the telecommunication server 105 may optionally check for consistency between data of different fields of the initial draft document.

If the set of user data is completely received in that it is saved in the initial draft document (and optionally an activation has been requested by the client terminal 101A or by each of the client terminals 101A-C that jointly share different portions of the initial draft document), the telecommunication server 105 may, in step 1423, set the status parameter to the second value, copy the initial draft document into the electronic document 322, assign a second identification address to the electronic document 322 for access via a network e.g. 103B to the electronic document 322, and delete the initial draft document. The second identification address may be different from the first identification address in that it may be generated in accordance with a communication protocol of the network 103B that is different from the network associated with the first identification address. In another example, the second identification address may be the same as the first identification address. The telecommunication server 105 may for example sends a message to the client terminal indicating the second identification address and that the initial draft document is completed. In another example, the client terminal 101A may determine automatically whether the initial draft document is completed.

In step 1425, the telecommunication server 105 may determine if the status parameter has the second value or the third value or not. If the status parameter has the second value or the third value steps 1427-1439 may be performed. The status parameter having the second value means that the received request in step 1401 is for modifying or updating the existing content of the electronic document 322. In this case, the request indicates the second identification address and/or first identification address. In case, the first identification address is indicated, the request may be redirected to the second identification address since the initial draft document is deleted.

The telecommunication server 105 may determine in step 1427 whether an edit draft copy of the electronic document 322 is previously created or not. In step 1431, the telecommunication server 105 may create the edit draft copy of the electronic document 322 if the edit draft copy is not created.

In step 1429, the telecommunication server 105 may determine whether an identification address is assigned to the edit draft copy or not. In step 1433, the telecommunication server may assign a third identification address to the edit draft copy for accessing the edit draft copy if the third identification address is not assigned to the edit draft copy (or if the edit draft copy is not assigned an identification address e.g. in accordance with the present method), and may set the status parameter to the third value if the status parameter has the second value. The third identification address may be generated in accordance with a communication protocol of a network 103A that is different from the networks 103B and 103C that are used to request or access the electronic document 322 and the initial draft document. In another example, the third identification address may be generated in accordance with a communication protocol of network 103B that is the same as the one used to request the electronic document 322. In another example, the third identification address may be generated in accordance with a communication protocol of network 103C that is the same as the one used to request the initial draft document.

In step 1435, at least the client terminal 101A may display the edit draft copy on the client terminal 101A. For example, the client terminal 101A may receive a response to the request from the telecommunication server 105. The response may comprise the edit draft copy and/or an indication of the third identification address (e.g. for a subsequent use). The edit draft copy may be displayed on the graphical user interface 227 of the client terminal 101A e.g. with an indication of the third identification address.

The client terminal 101A may receive modifications to the set of user data e.g. in input fields of the edit draft copy, and may send the modifications to the telecommunication server 105. The modifications may be received during one or more login sessions to the client terminal 101A. That is, a user of client terminal 101A may login for a first time period, enter first modifications in the edit draft copy and log-out, then login again for a second time period enter other modifications and so forth. The one or more logins sessions may belong to one or more communication sessions between the client terminal 101A and the telecommunication server 105.

In step 1437, the telecommunication server 105 may receive the modifications to the set of user data from the client terminal 101A, and modify the edit draft document using the received modifications. This step 1437 may be repeated as soon as modifications are received or entered by the user in the edit draft copy at the client terminal 101A. For example, the client terminal 101A may be configured to send the modifications in a regular time interval e.g. every minute, the client terminal 101A may check if new modifications are entered may then send them to the telecommunication server 105.

In step 1439, and in response to receiving a save or an activate modification request from the client terminal 101A, the telecommunication server 105 may set the status parameter to the second value, copy the edit draft copy into the electronic document 322 and delete the edit draft copy.

For example, an application 327E of the plurality of applications 327A-N may be used by the telecommunication server 105 to access or control access or provide access to the initial draft document and the edit draft copy.

Steps 1401 to 1439 may be repeated in one or more consecutive communication sessions between the client terminal 101A and the telecommunication server 105 using at least one of the first, second and third identification addresses. For example, the client terminal 101A may establish a first communication session with the telecommunication server 105 and steps 1401-1439 may be performed, and the first communication session may be closed. After that, the user may establish a second communication session with the telecommunication server 105 and steps 1401-1439 may be performed again and so forth. For example, within a same session e.g. the first communication session the user may have one or more login sessions into the client terminal 101A. For example, for the request of step 401, the user may use one of the identification addresses that are available at the client terminal 101A, if a document (e.g. edit draft copy) to which the identification address is assigned is not existing the request may be redirected using an address of the electronic document 322 or the one of the initial or edit draft copy if it exists.

A communication session refers to information interchange between the client terminal and the telecommunication server, with the information interchange having a defined start and end. The start may be defined for example by a request for authentication with the telecommunication server. For example, the request from the client terminal 101A to access the electronic document 322 of step 1401 may be used for authentication with the telecommunication server. A series of requests to the telecommunication server 105 originating from the same user e.g. at the same browser may be part of the same communication session. The end may be defined by e.g. closing a browser used to perform the request.

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary telecommunication system 1500 in accordance with the present disclosure. The exemplary telecommunication system 1500 may support OData communication protocol. Components of the telecommunication system 500 comprise a client terminal 1501 (such as 101) a gateway 1503 and a draft logic 535 e.g. such as the telecommunication server 105. The gateway 1503 may or may not be part of the draft logic 1535.

The client terminal 1501 may comprise a user interface (e.g. of applications in S/4HANA) that may be generated by an application of the client terminal 1501. The user interface may be browser based and available in a responsive design on multiple devices. The browser may enable access to multiple applications (1513, 1515) which are managed by a shell 1509. Within the browser 1507, shell 1509, the Fiori Launchpad, is run to start the application and enable cross-application services like search, navigation, application favorites and document bookmarks, notifications and tasks, or user profile related functions. The role-based shell content is based on application catalogs of the multiple applications whose entries are associated with user roles that refer to required authorizations in the draft logic 1535. For certain mobile devices, a player 1511—like the Fiori Client—is provided which encapsulates the browser's behavior in order to e.g. optimize the cache strategy in mobile networks or to enable native device capabilities.

The application may be developed based on the Fiori UX paradigm using SAP UI5 programming model.

Beyond application specific UI artifacts, the client terminal 1501 may enable reuse for efficient and consistent development using component 1517. Reuse can be differentiated in simple and complex cases. For the simple reuse case, development artifacts are contained in reuse library, referenced from it and instantiated within the application. In contrast, complex reuse establishes autonomous components that potentially interact with their own OData service.

For any of these artifacts it is beneficial to exploit information anyway consistently defined in the backend e.g. in Core Data Services (CDS), the global term catalog or the data dictionary. Thus, such information and content has to be transferred with the backend service as annotations or special entities. UI5 controls generically render and behave with respect to annotated service metadata and data to introduce e.g. translated UI texts, value helps or field control. The communication over HTTP(s)/Web Socket is stateless following REST paradigms by focusing on the OData protocol as described in more details below.

The gateway 1503 enables a decoupled access to the backend server's 1505 logic and data, shell content and layered UI configurations, or application metadata. The gateway 1503 targets at harmonized access by introducing most—if not all—of the communication using the OData protocol in a stateless, REST based manner. OData services are exposed on a web tier either using HTTPS short-term as technical protocol or considering WebSockets as a mid-term option for highly interactive and collaborative scenarios.

The gateway 1503 comprises a controller 1519 that relates to OData services implemented by model and data providers. For Fiori applications and its data, service model 1521 is typically tailored to a certain application design. However, it may be reused in a family of similar applications or for application variants that e.g. address different device channels. The model is a projection of the underlying electronic document (the actual data) persistence or the temporary data in the draft persistence.

However, the data persistence is not directly mapped to service model 1521. It is first modeled in CDS interface views in particular basic views of normalized core or draft entities. These CDS views are the source for creating SADL based OData Services supporting a de-normalized projection to OData entities. The SADL based OData service is used for complex transactions to access data by SQL derived from the views in pure read-only scenarios. In transactional/write scenarios the service calls draft infrastructure 1525 of the draft logic 1535 to accomplish intermediate draft documents or copies and thereby stateless interactions. In addition, it is possible to directly call the underlying application logic (e.g. 327A) e.g. for simple task enabling applications.

A separate set of UI configuration controllers 1523 of the gateway 1503 control access to metadata like layered UI configurations and personalization, application catalogs and descriptions (BOM/bill of material), or semantic objects and navigation targets.

The draft logic 1535 may comprise an application logic 1527 (such as application 327A). An implementation of the application logic 1527 may exist based on a stateful programming model. While calling this stateful logic directly used for single requests in task enabling application, but not for the series of requests required in complex transactions. Instead a stateless processing of a draft document is introduced. However, even the draft may incorporate parts of the application logic e.g. for incremental creation of documents or in general for an acceptable usability for end-users editing a draft.

The application logic 1527 is emphasized as Stateless Enablement which refers to application coding disassembled from the stateful chunk to be called in small units from the draft infrastructure 1525. The stateless enablement targets at extracting side effect free functionality for validations 1529 and preparations 1531. Preparations 1531 are meant to initialize draft entity data in the course of gradually entering data in the application UI. The purpose of validations 1529 is to increase the user comfort and return warning messages specific to already entered data.

With this approach, a stateless enablement as the interface with the draft document or copy can be accomplished in an evolutionary approach adding more preparations and validations over time. Though preparations that are mandatory for the interaction flow and gradual document creation must be tackled with highest priority, there is still a chance to mitigate their transition by using the soft state.

The third important function in the relation between draft and application logic is the activation logic 1533. The activation logic 1533 may be a broad API that receives and processes a finalized draft document or copy at once. The draft copy or document is activated to become an (active) electronic document (e.g. copying the content of the draft copy into the electronic document) in the actual data persistence and deleted thereafter.

In traditional data entry applications, the life time of a modified electronic document is tied to a session lifecycle which also controls pessimistic locks and reservations.

With the present exemplary method draft documents are stored in the database. Where required the draft document receives the logical ownership of pessimistic locks and reservations. The draft copies enable stateless interactions.

The draft state is an integral part of the electronic document's life cycle. The draft infrastructure 1525 allows to add an “initial draft document” as well as an “edit draft copy” state to existing electronic documents. At its core draft logic 1535 (such as draft application 327E) provides the OData functions derived from a draft state model. The draft logic 1535 stores the initial draft document or edit draft copy with each modifying request in order to enable the above formulated stateless communication paradigm. The draft logic 1535 and its core choreography shall be generated in a consistent way. It establishes the handling of transactions and lock contexts as well as offers callbacks to the stateless enabled application logic for validations and preparations as well as the application logic upon draft activation. The draft logic 1535 may use a Business Object Processing Framework (BOPF) introducing an observer pattern to react to user entries with specific preparations and validations.

Since drafts (initial draft document and edit draft copy) and locks of the drafts are decoupled from the Advanced Business Application Programming (ABAP) (communication) session (in that the drafts and locks are independent of whether the communication session is ended or not) and memory the draft infrastructure 525 may comprise lifecycle services 1537 that handle expirations and notification events. Upon expiration the associated drafts or locks are removed.

The draft model shall be generated with respect to normalized core entity views. Modeling the draft close to the application not only enables various projections for application UIs and eases the activation logic and interface. Such a draft can also be used in extended scenarios like forward error handling, staging of master data, import of data from external formats, or offline support.

The backend server 1505 may further comprise an interface 1539 for accessing drafts (initial draft document and/or edit draft copy) persisted or stored in database 1541 and for accessing electronic documents persisted or stored in database 1543.

FIG. 10 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for creating an initial draft document. Upon receiving a POST request 601 at the gateway 1503 from the client terminal 1501, the gateway 1503 may forward a creation request 1603 to the draft logic 1535. The POST request may be an indication of a first request for accessing an electronic document such as electronic document 322. For example, the electronic document may have a hierarchical tree structure with a single root entity and the POST request is on the entity set for the root entities. The root entity set is identified in property RootEntitySet of the annotation Common.DraftEnabled on the entity container. An entity set may be built from entities of the one or more entity graphs (e.g. the entity set may comprise an entity of each of the one or more entity graphs that per-form the same task).

Additionally, it can be created based on another referenced electronic document (of the same or a different type as the electronic document 322) by calling the action identified in property NewAction of the annotation Common.DraftEnabled on the entity container.

The initial draft document may be empty, or may be pre-filled with default values derived from system preferences, user preferences, or from related documents (e.g. create an order for a product selected from a catalog).

The draft logic 1535 (e.g. draft application 327E) may request 1605 from the application logic 1527 (such as application 327A) default values that exist for defining the initial draft document and receive default values. Using the defaults values the draft logic 1535 may create the initial draft document comprising the content of the electronic document prefilled with the default values, and may send a response to the gateway 1503 indicating that the initial draft document is created and stored for subsequent stateless operations.

The gateway 1503 responds to the client terminal 1501 with 200 OK 1609 and the new after-image (which is an entity graph of the initial draft document or the initial draft document with updated data) that may contain default values, calculated values, or field-control information; the client can specify the desired expansion level via $expand.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a method for transmitting user data that is input in (that modify) the initial draft document or the edit draft copy at the client terminal 1501. User input is transported 1701-1703 to the draft logic 1535 via the gateway 1503 using PATCH requests. This can result in warning messages 1705 (e.g. transported via the response header SAP-Message), and recalculation of properties, including field-control properties from the draft logic 1535. If the gateway 1503 is using OData 4.0 then the gateway 1503 may respond with 200 OK 1707 and the new after-image (such that no need for a separate request to bring the updated entity graph and/or drafts to the client terminal 501). However, if the gateway 1503 is using OData 2.0, the gateway 1503 may respond with 204 No Content in a non-error case. The client terminal 1501 may send a subsequent GET request in order to request recalculated properties (bundling the PATCH and GET requests in a batch request may be used).

Steps 1701-1703 may be repeated for example to check or validate the data entered in the initial draft document or edit draft copy and transmitted with steps 1701-1707. In addition, a validation 1709 may be performed between the draft logic 535 and the application logic 1527. And a response 1711 e.g. 200 OK may be sent as response to the client terminal 1501 indicative of the result of the validation.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a method for validating the initial draft document for consistency. The initial draft document or edit draft copy may be validated for consistency at any time by calling by the client terminal 1501 a Validate function on the root entity of the initial draft document or edit draft copy that triggers validation request 1801-1805 to be submitted to the draft logic 1535 via the gateway 1503 and to the application logic 1527 via the draft logic 1535. This will return a list of messages 1809-1811, each with a reference to the problematic part of the draft. A problematic part may for example be a field of the initial draft document or edit draft copy that is configured to receive numbers contains string characters etc.

The initial draft document or edit draft copy may be enriched at any time by calling a Prepare action 1813 on the root entity of the initial draft document or edit draft copy. The Prepare action may have side-effects and modify the initial draft document or edit draft copy. In addition it may return messages 1815-1817 as a result of consistency checks or other processing logic triggered by it.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a method for converting the initial draft document or edit draft copy into the electronic document 322 by copying the data filled in the initial draft document or edit draft copy into the electronic document 322. The initial draft document or edit draft copy may be converted into the electronic document 322 by invoking the Activate action 1901 on the root entity of the initial draft document or edit draft copy. This will implicitly trigger the functionality behind the Validate function (or a stronger check routine) and may implicitly trigger parts or all of the functionality behind the Prepare action. It also needs to update foreign key values in case final semantic keys are determined when activating draft entities. Also the initial draft document or edit draft copy is deleted after copying 1903 its data into the electronic document 322. The conversion and deletion 1903 may be an atomic operation.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a method for canceling data previously entered into (or deleting) the initial draft document or edit draft copy. The initial draft document or edit draft copy may be deleted with a DELETE request 11001 (to the draft logic 1535 via the gateway 1503) to the root entity of the initial draft document or edit draft copy; the root entity and all dependent entities will be deleted. This may be explicitly made visible with an “on delete cascade” constraint in the OData model. In addition all locks and reservations bound to the initial draft document or edit draft copy will be deleted.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of a method for creating an edit draft copy. When an existing electronic document (completely filled) is requested for edition, an edit draft copy is created by invoking the Edit action 11101 (at the client terminal 1501) on the root entity of the electronic document 322. This creates a deep copy of the electronic document 322. The edit draft copy resides in the same entity sets as the electronic document 322. If an electronic document already has an edit draft copy, the Edit action fails; there can be at most one edit draft copy per electronic document (instance).

User input to the edit draft copy is transported to the draft logic 1535 via PATCH requests, similar to editing the initial draft document as already described above. PATCH requests can result in warning messages and recalculation of properties in the entity graph.

The edit draft copy may be validated at any time by calling the Validate function on the root entity of the edit draft copy. Other entities of the edit draft copy may offer localized overloads of the Validate function. The Validate function on an edit draft copy returns a list of warning messages for the draft entity graph. The Prepare action on an edit draft copy may create, change, or release locks or reservations bound to the edit draft. It may also create and initialize contained drafts. The edit draft copy may be converted into a new version of the electronic document 322 by invoking the Activate action on the root entity of the edit draft copy. If the user cancels data modification and no one else works on the same edit draft copy, the edit draft copy may be deleted with a DELETE request to the root entity of the edit draft copy together with all bound reservations and locks.

All requests described above with reference to FIG. 10-15 may return error, warning, and success messages in the response header SAP-Message e.g. 1607-1609, 1705-1707, 1905, 11003, 11103 messages.

In the following is an example method to adapt the OData model (referred hereinafter as original ore draft-less OData model) to the present method to provide a new OData model (referred to as draft enabled OData model). The present method as described above involves drafts such as the initial draft document and the edit draft copy in order to fill data in an electronic document e.g. 322.

As described above, the at least one telecommunication server 105 may support or provide services, wherein each service may be associated with at least one electronic document and associated entity graph. This may result in one or more entity graphs. An entity set may be built from entities of the one or more entity graphs (e.g. the entity set may comprise an entity of each of the one or more entity graphs that perform the same task). For example, an entity set may be marked as a draft rootset that contains root entities of the one or more entity graphs.

A draft scope may be defined for the new OData model. The draft scope consists of all entity sets that allow editing in the context of this service (e.g. it involves all electronic documents that are associated with that service e.g. the data control service), i.e. it is the maximum structure of initial draft document or edit draft copies for this service. Entity sets outside of the draft scope are “read-only”; their entities can only be referenced by draft entities, e.g. referenced master data or value lists. At least one entity set of the draft scope must be marked as a draft rootset, that contains root entities of active or draft copies (active document refers to an electronic document such as 322). The Edit and Activate actions are only available on the root entities.

The entity types of all entity sets outside of the draft scope are identical in the original OData model and in the draft-enabled OData model. All other entity types are transformed (from the original OData model to the new OData model) by adding a key property ID of type EDM.String to the entity type. All key properties of a draft-less entity type (i.e. entity type of the original OData model) are part of the draft-enabled entity type (i.e. entity type of the new OData model) as non-key properties, and they are tagged with the term SemanticKey. All non-key properties and navigation properties of a draft-less entity type are part of the draft-enabled entity type without any change. As a next step the property EditState may be added and the navigation property TwinEntity (in rare cases this navigation property could be omitted for non-root entities if the correlation between active entity (of the active document) and draft entity (of the initial or edit draft copy) cannot be established).

Finally a User entity type and following additional administrative data at least on the draft-enabled root entity type are added:

-   -   CreatedBy (Navigation to User),     -   CreatedAt (Edm.DateTimeOffset),     -   LastChangedBy (Navigation to User)—when presenting drafts in         lists     -   LastChangedAt (Edm.DateTimeOffset)—when presenting drafts in         “recovery mode”,     -   ExclusiveFor (Navigation to user)—current exclusive editor     -   ExclusiveSince (Edm.DateTimeOffset)—exclusively edited since

The User entity type has at least the properties:

-   -   FullName (Edm.String)     -   PhotoURL (Edm.String)     -   JobTitle (Edm.String)     -   EmailAddress (Edm.String)     -   WorkPhone (Edm.String)     -   MobilePhone (Edm.String)     -   WorkAddress (Edm.String)

To avoid relying on naming conventions and be open for future extensions it is annotated with the term Communication.Contact.

The following table describes correspondence between the original OData model (OData v2) and the new (adapted to the present method) OData model (OData v4).

Logical OData V2 OData V4 Action Operation Example Operation Example New POST request POST ~/Orders Additionally New POST ~/Orders/New to root entity action bound to set root entity set Modify PATCH requests Identical to V2 to existing draft entities POST requests to create dependent draft entities DELETE requests to delete dependent draft entities Cancel DELETE DELETE DELETE request DELETE request to ~/Orders (4711) to root draft ~/Orders (4711) root draft entity entity Validate Function GET Function bound GET ~/Orders (4711)/ import taking ~/OrderValidation? to root entity Validation( ) key ID=4711 type. parameters of Optional: root entity functions bound type. to non-root Optional: entity types function imports for non-root entity types Prepare Function POST ~/OrderPreparation? Action bound to POST import taking ID=4711 root entity type. ~/Orders(4711)/Preparation key Optional: parameters of actions bound to root entity non-root entity type. types Optional: function imports for non-root entity types Activate Function POST Action bound to POST import taking ~/OrderActivation? root entity type ~/Orders (4711)/Activation key ID=4711 parameters of root entity type Edit Function POST Action bound to POST import taking ~/OrderEdit?ID=4711 root entity type ~/Orders(4711)/Edit key parameters of root entity type

The following are example signatures for OData 4.0

<ComplexType Name=“ValidationResult”>  <Property Name=“IsValid” Type=“Edm.Boolean” /> </ComplexType> <Action Name=“Edit” IsBound=“true”>  <Parameter Name=“ActiveRoot” Type=“Model.Order” />  <ReturnType Type=“Model.Order” /> </Action> <Function Name=“Validation” IsBound=“true”>  <Parameter Name=“DraftRoot” Type=“Model.Order” />  <ReturnType Type=“Model.ValidationResult” /> </Function> <Action Name=“Preparation” IsBound=“true”>  <Parameter Name=“DraftRoot” Type=“Model.Order” />  <ReturnType Type=“Model.Order” /> </Action> <Action Name=“Activation” IsBound=“true”>  <Parameter Name=“DraftRoot” Type=“Model.Order” />  <ReturnType Type=“Model.Order” /> </Action>

The draft-enabled OData model may be be annotated so that generic client components can interact with the draft (initial draft document ore edit draft copy) without having to rely on out-of-band knowledge or naming conventions. OData 4.0 specifies how to define custom annotations, and this mechanism is used to describe SAP-specific annotations for draft document handling. The first annotation is for entity sets that contain root entities of draft-enabled documents:

<Term Name=“DraftRoot” Type=“Common.DraftRootType” AppliesTo=“EntitySet”>  <Annotation Term=“Core.Description”>   <String>Root entities of business documents that support the draft       pattern</String>  </Annotation> </Term>

This is a structured annotation, listing at least the activation action that converts a draft into an active document (e.g. converting the edit draft copy to electronic document 322 as described above). All other actions are optional: preparation, validation, edit, and initial draft documents from existing electronic document:

<ComplexType Name=“DraftRootType” BaseType=“DraftNodeType”>  <Property Name=“ActivationAction” Type=“Common.QualifiedName” Nullable=“false”>   <Annotation Term=“Core.Documentation”         String=“Action that activates a draft document” />  </Property>  <Property Name=“EditAction” Type=“Common.QualifiedName”>   <Annotation Term=“Core.Documentation”         String=“Action that creates an edit draft” />  </Property>  <Property Name=“NewAction” Type=“Common.QualifiedName”>   <Annotation Term=“Core.Documentation”         String=“Action that creates a new draft. It may have overloads that             allow referencing other business documents that are used to             pre-fill the new draft” />  </Property> </ComplexType>

The second annotation is for entity sets that contain non-root nodes of draft-enabled documents:

<Term Name=“DraftNode” Type=“Common.DraftNodeType” AppliesTo=“EntitySet”>  <Annotation Term=“Core.Description”>   <String>Entities in this set are parts of business documents that support the       draft pattern</String>  </Annotation> </Term>

This is a structured annotation, listing the node-specific preparation action and validation function:

<ComplexType Name=“DraftNodeType”>  <Property Name=“PreparationAction” Type=“Common.QualifiedName”>   <Annotation Term=“Core.Documentation”         String=“Action that prepares a draft entity for later activation” />  </Property>  <Property Name=“ValidationFunction” Type=“Common.QualifiedName”>   <Annotation Term=“Core.Documentation”         String=“Function that validates whether a draft entity is ready for             activation” />  </Property> </ComplexType>

The third annotation is for entity sets whose draft entities will implicitly be activated together with draft entities in the referenced entity sets

<Term Name=“DraftActivationVia” Type=“Collection(Common.SimpleIdentifier)”    AppliesTo=“EntitySet” Nullable=“false”>  <Annotation Term=“Core.Documentation”   String=“Draft entities in this set are indirectly activated via draft entities       in the referenced entity sets” /> </Term>

The fourth annotation lists all the properties of an entity type which form the key of the corresponding “draft-less” entity type

<Term Name=“SemanticKey” AppliesTo=“EntityType” Type=“Collection(Edm.PropertyPath)”>  <Annotation Term=“Core.Description”         String=“The listed properties form the semantic key, i.e. they are             unique modulo the EditState.” /> </Term>

These annotations share two reuse types:

<TypeDefinition Name=“SimpleIdentifier” UnderlyingType=“Edm.String”>  <Annotation Term=“Core.Description”         String=“The SimpleIdentifier of an OData construct in scope” /> </TypeDefinition> <TypeDefinition Name=“QualifiedName” UnderlyingType=“Edm.String”>  <Annotation Term=“Core.Description”         String=“The QualifiedName of an OData construct in scope” /> </TypeDefinition>

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

-   100 telecommunication system -   101A-N client terminal -   103A-C network -   103D link -   105 telecommunication server -   107 user -   203 processor -   205 transceiver -   207 memory -   209 bus -   215 application -   225 display device -   227 graphical user interface -   303 processor -   305 memory -   307 bus -   311 storage -   309 network adapter -   319 I/O interface -   320 database -   327 application program -   401-421 steps -   501-507 steps -   601 operation -   603 source type -   605 source ID -   607 enqueue context ID -   609 set of locks -   611A-B session portion -   613 session portion -   615-617 operation -   619 COMMIT WORK -   701-705 communication stage -   707 request -   709 request details -   711-713 processing steps -   1401-1439 steps -   1500 telecommunication system -   1501 client terminal -   1503 gateway -   1505 telecommunication server -   1507 browser -   1509 shell -   1511 player -   1513 application -   1515 application -   1517 reuse container component -   1519 controller -   1521 service model -   1523 UI configuration controller -   1525 draft infrastructure -   1527 application logic -   1529 validations -   1531 preparations -   1533 activation logic -   1535 draft logic -   1537 lifecycle services -   1539 interface -   1541 database -   1543 database. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A telecommunication method for controlling data access to a telecommunication server, the telecommunication server being connected to at least one first client terminal via at least a digital cellular telecommunication network, wherein the telecommunication server and the first client terminal communicate via a stateless protocol within at least a first communication session, the first client terminal being a battery powered device, the telecommunication server comprising an electronic document, the electronic document having a plurality of input fields for entry of electronic data, wherein a first lock and a session ID are assigned to the electronic document, the session ID being indicative of the first communication session, wherein the first lock is released by the telecommunication server upon ending the first communication session, the telecommunication server comprising multiple applications for accessing at least the electronic document, the telecommunication server further comprising a session control unit, wherein in a first access mode the session control unit is adapted to control access by the multiple applications to the electronic document using the first lock and the session ID, the method comprising: receiving by the telecommunication server a first request from a first user of the first client terminal for accessing the electronic document, the first request being indicative of a first user ID of the first user; in response to receiving the first request, creating and assigning by the telecommunication server a set of locks to the electronic document, wherein the set of locks comprises at least a second lock that is released by the telecommunication server upon deleting the electronic document, and wherein the second lock is not released by the telecommunication server upon ending the first communication session; saving by the telecommunication server the second lock in association with at least the first user ID for enabling the first user to access the electronic document using the first user ID; configuring the session control unit to switch from the first access mode to a second access mode, wherein in the second access mode the session control unit is configured to access the electronic document using the second lock and the first user ID instead of the first lock; generating by the telecommunication server an identification address of the electronic document in accordance with a communication protocol of the telecommunication network; sending the identification address to the first client terminal by the telecommunication server; displaying by the first client terminal the electronic document; entering first user data in at least part of the input fields of the displayed electronic document; sending at least part of the first user data by the first client terminal during the first communication session, using the first user ID and the identification address as a communication address; receiving by the telecommunication server the at least part of the first user data from the first client terminal; controlling the session control unit to save the at least part of the first user data in the electronic document using the first user ID and the second lock; and controlling the session control unit to switch back to the first access mode and to commit the at least part of the first user data using the first access mode, wherein the commit comprises releasing the first lock.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: concurrently receiving a second request for accessing the electronic document and the first request, wherein the second request is received by the telecommunication server from a second user of a second client terminal of the at least one client terminal, the second request being indicative of a second user ID of the second user, wherein the set of locks further comprise a third lock in association with the second user ID for enabling the second user to access the electronic document using the second user ID; displaying by the second client terminal the electronic document; entering second user data in at least part of the input fields of the displayed electronic document; sending at least part of the second user data by the second client terminal during the first communication session, using the second user ID and the identification address as a communication address; concurrently receiving the at least part of the second user data and the at least part of the first user data; and concurrently performing, for the at least part of the first and second user data, the elements: controlling the session control unit to save the at least part of the first user data in the electronic document using the first user ID and the second lock; and controlling the session control unit to switch back to the first access mode and to commit the at least part of the first user data using the first access mode, wherein the commit comprises releasing the first lock.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: concurrently receiving a second request for accessing the electronic document and the first request, wherein the second request is received by the telecommunication server from a second user of a second client terminal of the at least one client terminal, the second request being indicative of a second user ID of the second user, wherein the set of locks further comprise a third lock in association with the second user ID for enabling the second user to access the electronic document using the second user ID; displaying by the second client terminal the electronic document; entering second user data in at least part of the input fields of the displayed electronic document; sending at least part of the second user data by the second client terminal during the first communication session, using the second user ID and the identification address as a communication address; concurrently receiving the at least part of the second user data and the at least part of the first user data; and performing, for the at least part of the first and second user data in a first and second atomic operation respectively, the elements: controlling the session control unit to save the at least part of the first user data in the electronic document using the first user ID and the second lock; and controlling the session control unit to switch back to the first access mode and to commit the at least part of the first user data using the first access mode, wherein the commit comprises releasing the first lock.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: in response to determining that the first atomic operation is unsuccessfully completed, preventing execution of the second atomic operation and releasing locks of the set of locks.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first lock is shared between the multiple applications, wherein the first request is received via a first application of the multiple applications, the method further comprising: determining if the first lock is pending by determining that the first lock is used by a second application of the multiple applications for performing a second access to the electronic document, wherein the performing of the second access is pending; and if the first lock is pending, suspending execution of the second application and executing access to the electronic document by the first application.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising repeating, in a periodic basis, the elements: determining if the first lock is pending by determining that the first lock is used by a second application of the multiple applications for performing a second access to the electronic document, wherein the performing of the second access is pending; and if the first lock is pending, suspending execution of the second application and executing access to the electronic document by the first application.
 7. The method of claim 5, further comprising: rolling back changes caused by processing steps performed by the second application before the first lock becomes pending.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a second request for accessing the electronic document using the first lock; and in case the session control unit is in the second access mode rejecting the second request.
 9. A telecommunication server in communication with at least one first client terminal, the telecommunication server being connected to the first client terminal via at least a digital cellular telecommunication network, wherein the telecommunication server and the first client terminal communicate via a stateless protocol within at least a first communication session, the telecommunication server comprising an electronic document, the electronic document having a plurality of input fields for entry of electronic data, wherein a first lock and a session ID are assigned to the electronic document, the session ID being indicative of the first communication session, wherein the first lock is released by the telecommunication server upon ending the first communication session, the telecommunication server comprising multiple applications for accessing the electronic document, the telecommunication server further comprising a session control unit, wherein in a first access mode the session control unit is adapted to control access by the multiple applications to the electronic document using the first lock and the session ID, the telecommunication server being configured for: receiving a first request from a first user of the first client terminal for accessing the electronic document, the first request being indicative of a first user ID of the first user; in response to receiving the first request creating and assigning a set of locks to the electronic document, wherein the set of locks comprises at least a second lock that is released by the telecommunication server upon deleting the electronic document, and wherein the second lock is not released by the telecommunication server upon ending the first communication session; saving the second lock in association with at least the first user ID for enabling the first user to access the electronic document using the first user ID; configuring the session control unit to switch from the first access mode to a second access mode, wherein in the second access mode the session control unit is configured to access the electronic document using the second lock and the first user ID instead of the first lock; generating an identification address of the electronic document in accordance with a communication protocol of the telecommunication network; sending the identification address to the first client terminal; receiving first user data from the first client terminal; controlling the session control unit to save the first user data in the electronic document using the first user ID and the second lock; and controlling the session control unit to switch back to the first access mode and to commit the first user data using the first access mode, wherein the commit comprises releasing the first lock.
 10. A computer program product including a computer-usable non-transitory storage medium embodying a computer program, the computer program when executed on a data processing system causing the system to: receive a first request from a first user of a first client terminal for accessing an electronic document, wherein the first client terminal communicates with a server via a stateless protocol within at least a first communication session, wherein a first lock and a session ID are assigned to the electronic document, the session ID being indicative of the first communication session, the server further comprising a session control unit, wherein in a first access mode the session control unit is adapted to control access by multiple applications to the electronic document using the first lock and the session ID; in response to receiving the first request create and assign a set of locks to the electronic document, wherein the set of locks comprises at least a second lock that is released upon deleting the electronic document, and wherein the second lock is not released by the telecommunication server upon ending the first communication session; switch from the first access mode to a second access mode, wherein in the second access mode the session control unit is configured to access the electronic document using the second lock instead of the first lock; receive first user data from the first client terminal; first control the session control unit to save the first user data in the electronic document using the second lock; and second control the session control unit to switch back to the first access mode and to commit the first user data using the first access mode, wherein the commit comprises ending the first communication session and releasing the first lock.
 11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer program when executed on the data processing system further causes the system to: concurrently receive a second request for accessing the electronic document and the first request, wherein the second request is received from a second user of a second client terminal, wherein the set of locks further comprise a third lock in association with the second user for enabling the second user to access the electronic document; concurrently receive second user data from the second user and the at least part of the first user data; and concurrently perform the first and second control steps for the at least part of the first user data and the second user data.
 12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer program when executed on the data processing system further causes the system to: concurrently receive a second request for accessing the electronic document and the first request, wherein the second request is received from a second user of a second client terminal, the second request being indicative of a second user ID of the second user, wherein the set of locks further comprises a third lock in association with the second user for enabling the second user to access the electronic document; concurrently receive second user data from the second user and the at least part of the first user data; and perform the first and second control steps for the at least part of the first user data and the second user data in a first and second atomic operation respectively.
 13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the computer program when executed on the data processing system further causes the system to: in response to determining that the first atomic operation is unsuccessfully completed, prevent execution of the second atomic operation and release locks of the set of locks.
 14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the first request and second requests are indicative of a first user ID and a second user ID of the first user and second user respectively, wherein in the second access mode the session control unit is configured to access the electronic document using the second lock and at least one of the first user ID and second user ID.
 15. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the first lock is shared between the multiple applications, wherein the first request is received via a first application of the multiple applications, wherein the computer program when executed on the data processing system further causes the system to: determine if the first lock is pending by determining that the first lock is used by a second application of the multiple applications for performing a second access to the electronic document, wherein the performing of the second access is pending; and if the first lock is pending, suspend execution of the second application and execute access to the electronic document by the first application.
 16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer program when executed on the data processing system further causes the system to repeat, in a periodic basis, the elements: determine if the first lock is pending by determining that the first lock is used by a second application of the multiple applications for performing a second access to the electronic document, wherein the performing of the second access is pending; and if the first lock is pending, suspend execution of the second application and execute access to the electronic document by the first application.
 17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the computer program when executed on the data processing system further causes the system to: roll back changes caused by processing steps performed by the second application before the first lock becomes pending.
 18. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer program when executed on the data processing system further causes the system to: receive a second request for accessing the electronic document using the first lock; and in case the session control unit is in the second access mode reject the second request. 